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Arctic Food Arena explores diversified circular food production
What does the future of food production look like? How can we work together between different industries to strengthen the low degree of self-sufficiency in northern Sweden? Arctic Food Arena is an initiative from Gällivare Näringsliv AB that aims to explore the possibilities for food production through industrial symbiosis. The project is based on the ongoing industrial transition in Norrbotten County, which is expected to generate large amounts of residual heat.
On Wednesday, representatives from several different industries and public organizations gathered at Boden Business Park. The event, “Symbiosis – from residue to resource”, was a joint event between Arctic Food Arena, the municipality of Boden and Luleå University of Technology as part of Creaternity Impact Days 2025. During the day, the participants got to take part in current research and future forecasts. At the same time, they got a historical look back at how food supply has been managed in our Arctic part of the world over the centuries.
“I see great opportunities to link tourism to food production. In addition to the fact that locally produced food and our high-quality raw materials are one of the strongest reasons to visit our county, there is a strong interest in seeing how food is produced and processed,” says Oskar Hederyd, Strategic Partner Manager, Swedish Lapland Visitors Board, and continues:
“If we were to have new crops of vegetables or fish, for example, linked to the industry’s residual heat, I am sure it would be another reason to travel to the county”.
A number of initiatives are already underway in the county, including the cultivation of larvae to be used as feed for fish and birds, as Nils Lindh, business developer at Boden Business Park, explained.
“The vision for the food industry in Boden is an extension of Boden’s vision of “The Good Life” and reads: A viable, nature-positive food system that generates enough food for all Boden residents within the planetary boundaries, in a way that creates global echo”, says Sara Watz strategic coordinator at Boden Business Park, which has developed Boden’s Food Strategy and helped organize the day.
– Days like these play an important role in connecting different actors in the food production ecosystem in Norrbotten. Perhaps we have had it too good and it has been too easy and cheap to just buy all the food directly when it has been needed, Hederyd concludes.
